The new UK data laws — co-designed with industry and privacy partners, including Which? and TechUK — will “reduce costs and burdens for British businesses and charities, remove barriers to international trade, and cut the number of repetitive data collection pop-ups online,” the government has said ahead of Donelan’s introduction.

Today’s introduction to the bill, however, is something of a reintroduction: The bill was first introduced in the summer of last year, but progress was halted in September so that ministers could re-examine the legislation.

The government has claimed the the bill will:

1. Introduce a simple, clear and business-friendly framework that will not be difficult or costly to implement – taking the best elements of the GDPR and providing businesses with more flexibility about how they comply with the new data laws.
2. Ensure the new regime maintains data adequacy with the EU, and wider international confidence in the UK’s comprehensive data protection standards.
3. Further reduce the amount of paperwork organisations need to complete to demonstrate compliance.
4. Support even more international trade without creating extra costs for businesses if they’re already compliant with current data regulation.
5. Provide organisations with greater confidence about when they can process personal data without consent.
6. Increase public and business confidence in AI technologies by clarifying the circumstances when robust safeguards apply to automated decision-making.

The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology’s (DSIT) reforms “are expected to unlock £4.7 billion in savings for the UK economy over the next 10 years and maintain the UK’s internationally renowned data protection standards so businesses can continue to trade freely with global partners, including the EU,” the government said.

Over 2021, data-driven trade drove an estimated £259 billion for the economy, while generating 85% of the UK’s total service exports.

On the bill, Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan has said: “Co-designed with business from the start, this new Bill ensures that a vitally important data protection regime is tailored to the UK’s own needs and our customs.”

“Our system will be easier to understand, easier to comply with, and take advantage of the many opportunities of post-Brexit Britain. No longer will our businesses and citizens have to tangle themselves around the barrier-based European GDPR,” she said. “Our new laws release British businesses from unnecessary red tape to unlock new discoveries, drive forward next generation technologies, create jobs and boost our economy.”

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The reduction of data-related paperwork that UK organisations will need to fill out is mentioned as one of the highlights that the new GDPR-replacing bill will bring.

“The existing European version of GDPR takes a highly prescriptive, top-down approach to data protection regulation which can limit organisations’ flexibility to manage risks and places disproportionate burdens on small businesses,” the government said ahead of Donelan’s introduction.

“Ministers have improved the Bill to further cut down on the amount of paperwork organisations need to complete to show compliance. Now, only organisations whose processing activities are likely to pose high risks to individual’s rights and freedoms will need to keep processing records.

“The new rules will give organisations more clarity about when they can process personal data without needing consent or weighing up their own interests in processing the data against an individual’s rights for certain public interest activities.”

The government’s also suggested that the bill will better enable academics and commercial organisations to reuse data for scientific research, increase public and business confidence in AI technologies, and further support international data sharing.

The full text of the bill is yet to be published.